


a beautiful start

by Dubiousculturalartifact (222Ravens)



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Angst, Canon Autistic Character, F/F, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Past Character Death, Romance, Teamwork, awkward dork teens, everyone is queer you're welcome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-13 11:59:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10513329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/222Ravens/pseuds/Dubiousculturalartifact
Summary: in which miscommunication abounds, Jason and Kimberly make a pact to each ask out a teammate, and Zack plays enthusiastic wingman





	1. Chapter 1

Jason catches up to her, on the walk back from the mine, after another practice session.

 

"Hey," she acknowledges him, and he nods, back.

 

"Hey, Kimberly."

 

They walk in silence for a minute, as Kimberly speculates to herself, what exactly is happening here. Sure, it’s not that they don’t hang out sometimes, now. But Kimberly had finished up first, and left a couple minutes early, which meant Jason had to have seriously booked it, catching up. 

 

At least they won't have to worry about dodging security, anymore. The mine is pretty much abandoned by the workers, now that all of the gold was stolen to make a giant rage-monster. Honestly, how was this even her life?

 

Jason finally spits it out. "This is gonna sound weird, but... Can I ask your advice?"

 

She shrugs, and zips her jacket more closed. It's pink. They've all started gravitating towards having more of their colours in their wardrobe than usual. It started out halfway unconscious, and now it's just a fun thing they do, like having team colors.

 

She missed that. Team colors, private in-jokes. She knows losing it in the first place had been her own fault, with her old friends. She's not denying that, anymore.

 

She still misses it.

 

"Do you think it's cool for Power Rangers to date? Like, that wouldn't mess anything up, right?" Jason finally says, earnest.

 

Somehow, the thought of Trini pops into her head. She flushes, thinking of her, and oh my god, that wasn’t even a date. Had Trini _told Jason? Did Trini think it was a date?_ And that coffee, last week, but that was just a friend thing. Probably. Just because Trini was gay, didn’t necessarily mean Trini was into her, gay girls have friends. She is overthinking this, hard.

 

"Look, it was just _donuts_ , I don’t…“ She snaps.

 

"I just, it's cause I think I want to. You know. Date.” Jason blurts out at the same time, jogging beside her, and she stops dead.

 

 _"_ Oh."

 

 _Great_. Of course he wants to date her. Because what guy actually just listens to a girl talk about their life, and her problems, and doesn’t want something out of it? It’s so freaking typical.

 

"Um. Look. I know I like... Opened up to you. About the thing, and we like, bonded and stuff, obviously, because of everything that happened. But I meant what I said. I wanted to run with you, because... You were there, and you offered, not because..."

 

Jason stumbles, spinning around rapidly. "Whoah, whoah, no! I mean, no offence, but I wasn't talking about dating you."

 

 _Phew_.

 

"Oh." She says, relieved, and, " _Good_."

 

"Yeah, sorry." Jason says, looking almost as red as usual.

 

They keep walking in silence a little longer, before she rounds on him again. 

 

"You caught the part where Trini is gayer than the rainbow we all collectively form with our magic armour, right?" There's a flare of ugly jealousy in her gut, and she hates that, knows how dangerous that is. But she has to say it.

 

Jason snorts. "God, no, she's like a weird little sister."

 

"Good." She says, trying not to think about how relieved she feels, and he looks away, staring at the gravel road.

 

Except, okay, who _was_ Jason talking about, then?

 

When he looks up, Kimberly is staring back, arms folded. "Well? Are you gonna tell me which? Because there’s only two options left here.” She pulls her power coin out of her pocket, tossing it in the air. “Should I flip a coin? Tails it’s Zack….” She pauses. “Heads it’s _Billy_ …”

 

Jason’s face gives it away, pretty conclusively, even if he tries to hide it. "Technically, the power coins are the same on both sides. They don't have heads and tails."

 

God, he even sounds like Billy, right now.

 

Kimberly thinks over all the interactions she's seen. How Billy gravitates towards him, talks at him more than anyone else. Is about nine times better about casual touch, when it's Jason involved.

 

"For what it's worth, I don't think your crush is one sided either."

 

Jason grins at her, all bashful. “Yeah?”

 

Aw. Big tough leader, Jason Scott, really is the big softie she pegged him as.

 

“Yeah. Probably. I dunno. Worth a shot, right? Anyway, why did you ask me about it?.”

 

“Can you imagine asking Zack for dating advice?"

 

She giggles, pocketing the coin, again. "He'd probably tell you to steal explosives as a romantic gesture. I'm serious though. You should ask him out."

 

Jason nods, and now it's his turn to turn on her. "How about you, though?"

 

"What about me?"

 

"You said something about it being 'just donuts'? Which I'm guessing wasn't just about the Zeo crystal stuff?"

 

She laughs again, more of a forced one. "What, no? I didn’t. Say anything. I just..."

 

Crap, what's the point. She gives up.

 

"Okay, fine, maybe I think Trini is... I dunno. We just kinda click. But I shouldn’t even think about that. I’d just screw it up, you know? I’m… I’m not worth that. She deserves better.”

 

“Does Trini know?” Jason says.

 

She hesitates. “That I like her, or what I told you?”

 

“Either.”

 

“Not the first. She knows the second, though. I… I told her, the other day.” Kimberly says, her voice tense. “She asked me why I quit cheerleading.”

 

It hadn’t been a great conversation. A necessary one, maybe. But not a great one.

 

“How’d she react?”

 

They've hit the bottom of the slope, and pretty much given up walking by this point, sitting down on the trail. The rest of the team members are coming into view in the distance, so they’ve decided, apparently by mutual agreement, to wait for them.

 

“I think her first instinct was ‘ _shit, I thought you were gonna tell me you were a drug dealer or something_ ’.” Kimberly laughs, despite herself. “But I dunno. I didn’t show her the picture, I deleted it already, so. Maybe that’s why she didn’t seem so freaked out? Like. She said that I was shitty, but she also said that, I dunno… People do dumb shit, when they feel alone and they want to blame somebody else, and that doesn’t make it okay, but….”

 

Kimberly breathes out. “She said that I haven’t screwed any of us over yet, and she didn’t think I would. So she trusts me as a teammate. Because I earned that, at least. And we got a coffee together the next day, after school, so…”

 

She looks back, up the trail. Zack is walking ahead, and Trini is behind him, a little spot of yellow. Billy in red, because he’d forgot his jacket, and Jason had lent him his, and god, how were those two not _already_ dating?

 

“That’s a good start.” Jason says.

 

“Just because she trusts me, doesn’t mean she _likes_ me, though.“ She argues, anyway.

 

Jason scrambles up, and offers her a hand. ”How about this? I’ll ask Billy out if you ask her out."

 

Half of her is screaming not to get involved anymore with anyone else. That she already pushed too far, just wanting to be friends with Trini. That Trini _trusts_ her, the whole team does, and that’s terrifying enough.

 

But it’s wonderful, too. That she is worthy of something, despite everything she’s done, the power coin in her pocket as tangible, weighted proof of that.

 

She takes Jason’s hand.

 

“Deal.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments so far!

“Deal,” she’d said, and that would be fine. She could handle that, and maybe freak out about it later.

The problem is that Zack catches up to them, about two-seconds later, when Jason is still halfway holding Kimberly’s hand.

He makes a face, skidding to a stop. “Oh, gross. Are you two flirting? Because I do not need to know that.”

Jason laughs. “Ugh, not you too, Zack. No, we are not flirting.”

“So, you don’t like Kimberly?” He says, speculative.

“No, and I don’t like him.” Kimberly says, rolling her eyes.

“You don’t like him, huh? Ah, okay, I get it. It’s fine, I know I’m irresistible.” Zack winks, clearly kidding.

“Barking up the wrong tree there, buddy.” Jason blurts out, then winces, as if wanting to take it back.

Zack looks at the two of them, then back at Billy and Trini. Then back at the two of them, who both try to look innocent.

His grin widens, as he snaps a triumphant finger.

“Ahhhh! You’re into Trini? Nice, girl.” He spins, to point at Jason. “And you….”

Jason winces, like he’s expecting the same exuberance, and is bracing himself for it.

Except, because Zack seems to make a habit of surprising them, the smile softens, into something almost sweet, if a little sad. “Hey, it’s cool, okay? I know you care about Billy, right? Like. What happened...."

Kimberly tenses. She just hates it. The sick feeling in her gut, every time she thinks of that interminable period of time, the one where they'd thought they'd lost Billy, lost everything....

But they didn't lose Billy. They didn't lose him. They hadn’t lost anyone, and they weren’t going to. 

Zack’s face is clouded over a little, too, but he keeps going. "It was awful for all of us, but I know it was… I dunno. Maybe a little worse for you, and not just because you blamed yourself. Which was crap, for the record.”

Jason ducks his head. Doesn’t say anything. He doesn't need to, really.

“You should tell him.” Zack says, clapping him on the shoulder, then his voice cracks a little. “Don’t waste your shot, you know? We never have as much time as we think. I.. Keep trying to remind myself that. Instead of just wasting it, cause I’m scared.“

Because that’s Zack, as far as Kimberly has been able to figure him out. Brash as all get out, until it really means something.

“I will, okay? I will.” Jason says, and. “Thanks.”

“Nice speech, but you’re late to the party, Zack. We just made a ‘I’ll ask mine out if you ask your crush out’ pact like, two minutes ago.” ” Kimberly says, sharper than she meant to. 

She keeps messing up, on that. 

"Kimberly is gonna ask out Trini, and I'm... Yeah." Jason clarifies.

Zack nods, and smiles a lopsided smile, apparently not having even noticed her sharpness. "Cool. Count me in.”

“Count you in? Who are you asking out?” Jason says, confused.

“Nobody! I volunteer my services as wingman.”

“Um, thanks?” Jason says, quirking a brow.

It might be a terrible idea, but Zack’s trying. So she tries again, too. To soften her edge, smile more sincerely at Zack. 

“That’s sweet of you.” 

It’s not like it’s fake, either. She isn’t pretending, because she meant it. It is sweet of him.

“Yeah?” Zack says, looking pleased.

“Yeah. So. Tell me what Zack Taylor playing wingman, looks like.” She nods, giving him a challenge, that she knows he’s gonna meet head-on.

“Okay, so, just spitballing, off the top of my head kinda planning here, but I’m thinking…” He launches into it. 

Except Jason has to shush them, because, whoops, Billy and Trini are nearly here.

They all turn to greet the remaining two, trying to look innocent.

“Hey!” Billy says, oblivious.

“What are you guys talking about?” Trini says, suspicious.

“Nothing.” Jason says, lying badly enough that even Billy picks up on it.

“Really nothing, or ‘you don’t get to be a part of this conversation’, nothing?” Billy says, unexpectedly sharp, maybe even a little hurt.

“Team movie night!” Zack interrupts. “We were talking about that. Arranging one. Doing some further bonding that doesn’t involve horrifying circumstances or learning how to punch stuff. Sound good?”

“Yeah! We could set up at my house? My mom’s cool with it, if I ask, I’m pretty sure, and I got a movie projector, it's a little old, but I could probably fix it up, and if I just rejig the wiring a little, hook it up to..." Billy trails off, , a gleam in his eye, hands dancing as he plots his latest project.

“Great!” Zack says, even though he clearly has no idea what Billy is on about. "Friday?"

"Sure. Friday works." Trini says, shrugging, before looking over, a flash of something hopeful in her eyes. “Kimberly?”

Kimberly nods, a little self conscious, now that she’s started actively thinking about it. And Trini. And Trini and her.

“You need an extra pair of hands for setting things up?” Jason’s asking Billy.

Billy thinks for a minute. “If you want? You don’t have to, I could probably do it on my own. But, you know, it’d be nice. If you want. If you want.”

“I’ll show up half an hour early, okay?”

Billy grins, nodding as he repeats, “Okay! I can give you back your jacket, then?”

“Only if you don’t need it.” Jason reassures him, and gross. Too couple-y, already, honestly. 

It’s cute, though.

Zack flashes a thumbs-up behind his back, as they start walking again.

To his credit, Kimberly has to admit, it's a good plan to get the ball rolling.

She just hopes this doesn’t blow up in her face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! 
> 
> Sorry this chapter wound up so late, I got pulled into the end of semester busyness and it slipped my mind, and then it started getting a bit more introspective and plottier, so I stretched things out a bit, working out where to go next.
> 
> The next chapter will be MUCH faster, just a couple days at the most!

She’s hiding out in the bathroom between periods. It’s cowardly, she knows, but she was just having one of those days. The days when new hair and bubblegum pink, and the knowledge of her new friends, just wasn’t _quite_ enough to keep back the churning feeling in her gut.

 

So she’s taking five, sitting in the cubicle, looking at the crap graffiti on the walls, when Trini walks in. She’s pretty sure it’s Trini, anyway. All she can see is the shoes, but it’s enough she leans forward, about to unlock the door.

 

Except then the main door swings open, and she hangs back for just a second.

 

It turns out to be a good call, because it’s Amanda, and Harper.

 

“So. _you’re_ who Kimberly decides to hang around with, now?” Says Amanda.

 

 _Shit, shit, abort_.

 

“Sometimes.” Trini says, even more standoffish than she’d been to Kimberly, even at the beginning.

 

“I wouldn’t. If I were you. Look, I’m just saying this to be nice, okay? I’m serious. Like, honestly. Your social situation isn’t dire enough that you have to talk to her.”

 

“We’d let you sit with us at lunch once or twice, if you wanna boost your profile without hanging out with the detention rejects. I know, they’re ‘edgy’, but like, mhmm. Okay, let me put it this way… You got any secrets?” The girl says, and Kimberly feels sick.

 

Because she had talked about it with Trini, and Trini had been… Okay, about it. But there’s talking about it, and then there’s… Actually looking Amanda in the face, and _knowing_.

 

“Doesn’t everyone?” Trini replies, a challenge in her tone.

 

“I _did_.”

 

There’s a pause, as recognition sinks in. “You’re her, aren’t you.”

 

Amanda makes a noise of disgust. “Oh my _god_. You know what she did to me, and you’re still _friends_?”

 

And that’s it. Kimberly leans forward further, peering out at the crack in the door, and she can just barely see them, reflected in the mirror. Harper and Amanda, the power duo, vs Trini, the power… _Well._

 

Kimberly is pretty sure that Trini is going to hold her own, but that’s not really the part that scares her.

 

“I guess, yeah. I mean, look. I don’t know you.” Trini says, flatly. “That doesn’t mean you deserved it, or she wasn’t wrong to do it, because, duh. Of course she was. I just don’t know you, and I know her. And whatever shit went down, that’s between you two, beyond that… Okay. You can be mad at her. You can hate her, and you’ve got the right to do that. I’m not gonna get in the way of whatever helps you move past that.”

 

There’s a brief beat of silence, before Trini stops to pop the collar of her jacket. Because yeah, she might be quieter, but she’s just as melodramatic as the rest of them. “But don’t act like warning me off is about helping me, and not just about hurting her because she hurt you.”

 

“Wow, Dee Dee. I think that’s more words than I’ve literally ever heard you say.” Harper snarks, weakly.

 

“It’s Trini, actually.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

“Well, then I hope you dykes are very happy together.” Amanda laughs with a bitter, dismissive edge., because Amanda didn’t deserve it, she didn’t, but that’s the thing.

 

They were all cruel. Her, Amanda, everyone, they fed off that nastiness, thinking power meant having the upper hand over someone else’s life, and it had taken going too far for her to realize. She wishes it hadn’t. Wishes there’d be a better way things had gone, where…

 

But it didn’t. She can’t change the past. So all she’s got is right now, and the future.

 

They leave, the door swinging shut behind them, and Trini stays for a moment, just standing there. She looks up with surprise, when Kimberly lets herself out of the stall. Surprise, then defiance, as if challenging her to say something.

 

“You didn’t have to defend me, you know.”

 

Trini scoffs. “I actually didn’t, if you were listening.”

 

They stare at each other, for another long, moment.

 

“I can’t take it back.” Kimberly says, quieter than her usual. “That’s not… I’m not saying that as an excuse. Just as a fact.”

 

“No. You can’t.” Trini says, because she’s honest, and right then, Kimberly’s breath catches, at how she’s in this mess.

 

Because she looks at Trini, and thinks she’s _beautiful_. Trini with the weird hair, the darker skin, the plaid and sweatshirts, who listens to the angriest music in order to find calm, who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her, and _cares so fiercely_ , anyway.

 

Kimberly thinks about her own skin, and how she sits in it. About and loving girls as much as guys, and all the other stuff she hadn’t let herself think about, for such a long time. How she’d wanted so badly to be like Amanda, and Harper, to be the perfect queen of a teenage American girl, because that had felt like the only way to be… Real.

 

She thinks about how much time of her life she’s already wasted on trying to be someone perfect, like she could have scrub the _other_ in her away with perfect long hair, and just the right clothes, and a careful attitude, and it hadn’t been enough.

 

It never had been, and it had just made her ugly, trying to reach for something she’d never really wanted, anyway.

 

So she figures if she’s gotten this far, maybe, just maybe, it’ll work out. If just this once, she tries to something else, the way she’d started, when she’d cut her hair, and let go of _trying_ so hard.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“No need.” Trini says, then pauses. “Come on. There are a lot better places in the school to lurk, if you wanna be alone.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Sure, why not? I’ll show you."

 

Trini holds out a hand, and it takes a second for Kimberly to realize it’s just a gesture to follow. She follows anyway, because she's starting to figure out that she'd follow Trini pretty much anywhere, if it came to it.

 

It doesn't scare her half as much as it probably should.


	4. Chapter 4

True to promise, Jason shows up at seven thirty, for movie night.

 

Billy’s mom answers the door, and for once, doesn’t yell down to Billy to let him know, just yet.

 

“You’re early.” She says, instead, a red pen in one hand, and reading glasses perched on her nose, as she lets him in, anyway.

 

“Marking lab assignments?” He asks, because she works at the community college, chemistry courses, he thinks. Billy gets the brains from both sides.

 

Jason takes a minute to look around the kitchen/dining room area. Truth be told, he’s never really spent a lot of time upstairs. It’s nice enough, in a slightly worn way. It feels like a home, the way some houses don’t. He likes the clutter, the spread of papers across the table, the chipped teapot that looks well used, and the wires from one of Billy’s projects, on the counter top.

 

“I thought Billy said eight.” Mrs Cranston reiterates.

 

“Oh, yeah! I was going to help him set things up. I brought snacks, too!” He says, holding up a bag of tortilla chips, and a jar of salsa. That’s healthy, right? Mom points, for sure. He hopes.

 

“Alright.”

 

She nods him towards the stairs, and he starts going, before she speaks again, quieter, almost to herself. "One of these days I'll get the story of how Billy suddenly became such a popular guy."

 

Jason smiles, nervously, because nah, she isn’t likely to. He hates lying, but he also knows the importance of it, sometimes. “It’s kind of a long story, in all honesty.”

 

She fixes him with a stare, that says she isn’t buying it. "Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t faking being excited that he’s got people coming over, because I am. You all seem like good kids, in your own way. But I'm not ignoring the fact that he met half of you all in detention, you know?"

 

She sighs, and Jason’s ankle suddenly feels heavy again.

 

"I am happy about it. And he's staying out of trouble, which is good, because I’ve fought too hard for him. The world is stacked against people like us. People like Billy, especially. Who are so damn smart, but not in the way that the world always likes, who are…”

 

“Different, in a good way, but not the way everyone wants.” He finishes her sentence. “I know.”

 

She nods, but her expression is still… Tense. “Do you? Maybe you think, sure, it’s a small town, the cops are friendly to you, even when you crash a car and steal a cow…. But some people don't always get another shot, not like kids like you. You understand me?"

 

She doesn't know, she couldn't know, not what happened down at the docks, or any of the rest, but it hits Jason, hard enough that he can't speak. It takes one breath, and then another, before he can pull it all together again. Because Billy _had_ fallen, before any of the rest of them had, and he can't get it out of his head, it winds around and around, those moments.

 

When he's alone and he forgets, for a moment, that Billy came back.

 

That the kid he fell for, that hard and that fast, is still around. Still breathing, and _god_ , it's a bigger miracle than anything else that's happened to them.

 

He takes a breath, and then another one, because that’s all any of them can do. Keep going.

 

When he speaks again, he’s not smiling anymore, not trying to be innocent and charming. Just earnest, as serious as he can possibly be, because he _means it._

 

”Mrs Cranston, I can't say you're wrong, because you're not. But I also know that Billy is smart, and brave, and he makes his own choices. The only thing I'm going to apologize for, is not being in the position to notice what a wonderful person your son is, a lot earlier. But now that I have? I’m not letting go of that."

 

She fixes him with another look, one a little more appraisingly.

 

"Huh. Is that so."

 

"Yes. He says, squaring his shoulders, and hoping he's not flushing too hard.

 

Her expression shifts, and she gives a little chuckle. "Okay. Enough shovel talk. He's in the basement. Guessing the others are coming later?"

 

"Yeah.”

 

“Have fun.” She says, then smiles, conspiratorial, as she takes a large breath to shout,

 

"BILLY. JASON SCOTT IS HEREEEE."


End file.
